The law firm of Oakes & Fosher is presently investigating the alleged misconduct of former securities broker Carlos Seda. According to his publicly available FINRA BrokerCheck report, Carlos Seda has been the subject of multiple customer disputes.
Carlos Seda was a Puerto Rico based securities broker. He worked in the securities industry for fourteen years. During his career, he was registered with four different securities firms. He is no longer working as a registered securities broker in any fashion.
His Registrations
- Santander Securities (2002-2007)
- OFS Securities (2007-2013)
- Oriental Financial Services Corp. (2013-2014)
- Kovack Securities (2014-2017)
The Allegations
- In December 2014, a customer alleged that Carlos Seda breached his fiduciary duty, committed fraud, breached contract, managed their account negligently, made negligent misrepresentations and omissions, recommended unsuitable investments, and over-concentrated their account. This case was settled for $35,000 in damages.
- In July 2015, customers alleged that Carlos Seda encouraged them to liquidate their holdings to invest in various Puerto Rico bonds that represented unsuitable liquidity and capital risk. This case is currently pending. The customers are seeking $1 million in damages.
- In February 2016, customers alleged that Carlos Seda over-concentrated their portfolio in illiquid closed-end bond funds. The customers alleged that this was highly unsuitable. This case was settled for $85,000 in damages.
- In January 2017, customers alleged that Carlos Seda recommended high-risk and unsuitable investment strategies. This case was settled for $170,000 in damages.
- In October 2018, customers alleged that Carlos Seda over-concentrated their account, recommended unsuitable investments, breached his fiduciary duty, violated securities laws and rules, breached contract, managed their account negligently, committed fraud, and breached the duty of good faith and fair dealing. This case was settled for $20,000 in damages.
- In November 2018, a customer alleged that Carlos Seda made material misrepresentations and omissions, recommended unsuitable investments, over-concentrated their account, breached contract, managed their account negligently, and committed fraud. This case is currently pending. The customer is seeking $75,000 in damages.
- In December 2019, a customer alleged that Carlos Seda made material misrepresentations and omissions, breached his fiduciary duty, breached contract, recommended unsuitable investments, committed fraud, and managed their account negligently. This case is currently pending. The customer is seeking $300,000 in damages.
What Does This Mean?
Investment fraud occurs whenever a securities broker intentionally misleads and takes advantage of an investor for their own financial gain. This act can take multiple forms and can range in severity. For instance, a securities broker may want to invest a customer in an alternative product that provides brokers with higher than average commissions. Even though, the broker knows this investment is not suitable for their customer, they may make misrepresentations or omissions about the product in order to convince the customer to invest. This is all done in an attempt to receive that higher than average commission. This example would be fraud on a smaller scale. However, there are some securities brokers that run investment schemes so heinous and large they are designed to defraud numerous investors out of insane sums of money. For example, a securities broker may form a fictitious investment and then attempt to solicit funds for said investment. They will usually make fraudulent statements about what the security is and how their money will be invested. However, instead of investing the solicited funds, the broker just converts all of the money for his own personal use.
Oakes & Fosher Can Help
Many investors are unaware of the legal recourse available to them after losing money due to securities broker fraud and/or negligence. The truth is that investors who have lost money in this fashion may actually be entitled to damages.
Oakes & Fosher dedicates its entire legal practice to helping investors across the nation. If you, or someone you know, have lost money investing with Carlos Seda, please contact Oakes & Fosher for a free and private consultation. Oakes & Fosher handles cases on a contingency basis, which means there are no fees charged unless we collect for you.
